The present invention relates to a vehicle inner door panel having an integral handle adapted for closing the door.
Modern vehicles include passenger doors with vehicle inner door panels trimmed to match the passenger compartment decor. The door panels each include an inner door handle for closing the associated door. Recently, some manufacturers have reduced the number of parts required to construct a door panel by providing an integral handle, thus reducing cost and assembly time, and also providing a cleaner appearance with less visible joint lines. However, further improvement is desired over known door panel systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,687 discloses a door panel having a relatively flat reinforcement insert, a reinforcement strip attached to an interior surface of the reinforcement insert, and a skin with a first section for aesthetically covering the interior surface and a tubular section for covering the reinforcement strip to form a handle. However, the tubular section disclosed in Patent '687 is difficult and inefficient to manufacture and still further is inefficient to assemble. For example, the reinforcement strip must be snaked through the tubular section and then attached to the flat reinforcement insert member during assembly, which is cumbersome and labor intensive. Further, the screws used to connect the ends of the reinforcement strip to the generally flat reinforcement insert member are separate "extra" pieces requiring installation. Also, the screws are subject to improper installation, such as overtorquing which results in stripping, or undertorquing which results in incomplete installation and looseness. Also, screws can work loose with time and use, resulting in a loose door handle. The '687 patent also discloses a method for manufacturing a skin including the tube section for the handle. But the mold for forming the skin with the handle tube section includes a plug that is manipulated in the mold to form the skin handle tube. Use of the plug results in a process that is labor intensive and has a poor cycle efficiency. Still further, the plug and mold must be carefully maintained to prevent unacceptable weld lines from being formed on the skin, which occurs if the plug is mislocated during the molding process or if the plug becomes worn. Thus, a door panel solving the aforementioned problems is desired.